The present invention relates generally to food waste disposers, and more particularly to a baffle for a food waste disposer to reduce noise.
Conventional food waste disposers produce noise during operation. This is due, in part, by the operation of the motor as well as the by the food impacting against the disposer body and grind components. To reduce noise, it has been known to place an insulating cover around the exterior housing of the disposer. An exterior cover, however, does not prevent noise from traveling up through a drain opening of a sink where it can easily be heard by the user of the food waste disposer.
It has also been known to use a mounting gasket between the disposer inlet and the drain opening. One function of the mounting gasket is to keep food waste from getting xe2x80x9ckicked backxe2x80x9d up through the drain opening when the disposer is operating. FIG. 1 depicts a food waste disposer 10 having a conventional mounting gasket 50. The food waste disposer 10 has an inlet portion 12 that connects to a sink 20 and drain opening 22. The inlet portion 12 of the disposer 10 is connected to the sink 20 and drain opening 22 via a connecting apparatus 40 and the mounting gasket 50. Although different mechanisms exist, one type of connecting apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,007, which is owned by the assignee of the present application and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The mounting gasket 50, shown in more detail in FIGS. 2A-C, has an outer seal portion 52 and a pleated portion 54. The outer seal portion 52 provides a seal between the connecting apparatus 40 and the inlet portion 12 of the disposer 10. The pleated portion 54 has surfaces 55, 56, and 57. The first surfaces 55 are perpendicular to the outer seal portion 52. The first surfaces 55 have truncated ends, which form an open center 58. The second surfaces 56 extend from the sides of the first surfaces 55 at an angle xcex11 of nearly 90-degrees. The third surfaces 57 are interconnected to the second surfaces 56, and form an angle xcex13 of approximately 45 degrees with respect to the first surfaces 55. The surfaces are also truncated at the center of the gasket to form roughly a funnel shape which is provided by forming angle xcex12 (FIG. 2C) at greater than 90 degrees between the first surfaces 55 and the second surfaces 56. The surfaces 55, 56, and 57 form openings 59 about the center 58 that are substantially rectangular. The surfaces 55, 56, and 57 allow the pleated portion 54 and center 58 to expand to allow larger food waste to pass to the disposer 10. The mounting gasket 50 is made of a flexible material such as rubber and, as previously mentioned, serves to retain food waste in the grinding chamber of the disposer 10.
Although the pleated portion 54 of the mounting gasket 50 reduces some of the noise from the disposer 10, it does not reduce all of the noise emanating from the disposer 10 and up into the sink 20. This is due in part to the fact that the mounting gasket 50 has center 58 that allows noise to directly pass through the drain opening 22, as best seen in FIG. 2B. Center 58 becomes more pronounced during operation of the food waste disposer, because even slight pressure on the pleated portion 54 of the gasket 50 (e.g., from the water pressure from the sink) causes the size of center 58 to increase from its resting position.
It has been known in the art to insert a device in the drain opening 22 and to position the device on the mounting gasket 50. Referring to FIG. 3, a perspective view of an insertable device 60 is illustrated in accordance with the prior art. The position of the insertable device 60 on the mounting gasket 50 is illustrated with a dotted line in the FIG. 1. The device 60 includes a cylindrical body 62. A plurality of flaps 70 is flexibly attached to an inner wall of the body 62. Each of the flaps 70 is separated from adjacent flaps by slots 72. A small hole 74 at the end of the slots 72 may help prevent tearing of the material. Each flap 70 contains an opening 76, and each flap 70 includes a curved end, which forms part of a large, central opening 78 through the device 60. The openings 76 in the flaps 70 circumscribe the large, central opening 78 formed by the curved ends.
Neither the conventional mounting gasket 50 nor the insertable device 60 of the prior art are particularly effective in preventing the transfer of noise from the grinding mechanism in the disposer 10 to the sink, although they will reduce the noise to some degree. Although the various structures of the gasket 50 and insertable device 60 do to some extent cover and shield the grinding mechanism, the clear hole through the centers 58 and 78 of both of these devices 50 and 60 allow noise to be directly transferred via the air to the sink 20. Additionally, water flowing into the disposer from the user""s faucet, which normally flows during the operation of the disposer, does not act to adequately fill the spaces left by the centers 58 and 78. Instead, water runs almost unencumbered through these centers 58 and 78 and down into the disposer, and hence the water does not act to further shield noise from emanating into the sink.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/997,678, entitled xe2x80x9cFood Waste Disposer Having Mechanism and Method For Creating a Water Baffle to Reduce Noise,xe2x80x9d filed Nov. 29, 2001 by inventor Joseph U. Farmerie, and claiming priority to provisional patent application serial No. 60/253,804, filed Nov. 29, 2000, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, discloses a method for creating a water baffle to block the noise of the grinding mechanism. The method disclosed in these applications involves injecting water through a special port on the side of the disposer to create a water dam between the grinding mechanism and the drain opening. In one embodiment in that patent, a diaphragm is placed between the grinding mechanism and the sink to assist in the pooling of water on the diaphragm""s surface. However, the diaphragm disclosed in that patent application has a large central opening (see FIG. 8) which would permit noise to flow directly from the grinding mechanism to the drain opening were it not for the creation of the water dam. In other words, the diaphragm disclosed in that patent application requires water introduction, and formation of the water dam, to assist in reducing the noise from the grinding mechanism. Moreover, that patent contemplates the creation of a water dam by virtue of water introduced through a separate inlet into the disposer, which might be unnecessarily complicated or expensive for a given application. A more complete noise-reduction solution, including a solution that would eliminate grinding noise even in the absence of water, or that relies upon the water from the sink""s faucet to create a water dam, would be beneficial.
The present invention provides a baffle for a food waste disposer to reduce noise. The baffle has a diaphragm that allows solid and liquid waste to pass through the diaphragm, and accordingly does not substantially affect the normal operation of the disposer. However, because the baffle substantially covers the central opening of the conventional mounting gasket in the prior art, a direct path from the grinding mechanism in the disposer to the sink is blocked, thus muffling the noise coming from the grinding mechanism. Additionally, the baffles are preferably, but not necessarily, designed to create a water dam on their surface by impeding the flow of water from the sink""s faucet in a way to create a pool of water. The disclosed baffles may be installed in the drain opening of a sink above the conventional mounting gasket, making it easy for a consumer to position the baffle in place and to xe2x80x9cupgradexe2x80x9d his pre-existing disposer for quieter operation. Additionally, the baffle may be installed below the mounting gasket, or may be integrated with the mounting gasket to form a unitary piece. Furthermore, the disclosed baffle design may obviate the need for a conventional mounting gasket altogether.